This disclosure relates generally to recommending content to online system users, and more specifically to identifying content items or users for presentation to an online system user.
An online system allows its users to connect to and communicate with other online system users. For example, an online system allows a user to maintain content items, such as images or video data, and present the content items to other online system users. An online system user may establish a connection to other users, prompting the online system to present content items received from the other user to the user, encouraging interaction between various users.
However, many conventional online systems merely present a content item received from a user to other users connected to the user. However, merely presenting content received from other users connected to the user may limit the content presented to the user, reducing the user's interaction with content provided by the online system. However, presenting content provided to the online system by users who are not connected to the vowing user may result in a user being presented with content items in which the user has minimal interest. If an online system presents the user with content items in which the user is uninterested, the user may decrease interaction with the online system.